Trinity
by zweber
Summary: An AU that follows after the end of the second movie. some OCs and classic marvel characters.
1. Chapter 1

**It was a stormy night outside Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and everyone was long asleep for the night. And while the storm raged outside all was peaceful inside the expansive mansion. Until…**

**"My son!" Kurt Wagner shouted as he was jolted awake in his room. He looked around quickly, in a panic he leapt out of his bed. He looked frantically around again then suddenly vanished from his room leaving only a trace of blue smoke and a sulphurous smell.**

**"What do you mean? Who is he Jean?" Scott shouted.**

"**He is my son Scott. Back off! Let him breath." Jean shouted back at her husband as she crouched down over the dark body sprawled on the floor at the end of her bed, checking pulse and the numerous abrasions.**

"**What do you mean 'your son'? How could he be your son?" Scott raged, "You've never been pregnant! And he has to be at least 15! You're only 25!"**

"**MY SON! Silver-hair, Jasper, Oh my son!" Kurt cried as he appeared in the corner of room and all but pounced on the prone and naked body on the floor.**

"**Kurt! He is hurt, his pulse is strong but erratic we need to get him to the med-lab. Scott go get the professor tell him to meet us there. Go NOW!" Jean yelled.**

"**Calm yourself, Jean. I am already here. Scott, go wake the others we will need them." Said the Professor as he rolled into the room dressed in his night garments, but still in charge. **

**Scott Summers glanced back towards his wife but then followed his orders and left the room at a trot. The professor turned to watch him leave then returned his gaze to the adolescent on the floor and the two adults crouched over him. "Kurt, pick him up and follow me. Jean, you too." And with that he turned his wheelchair around and left the room leaving Jean and Kurt gazing at each other, bewildered and overwhelmed. Kurt lent over and ever so carefully lifted the blue-hued, silver-haired stranger off the cold floor and followed, with Jean following close behind.**

**The whole team was gathered around the prone body on the medical table. The room was silent except for the sounds of the machines that surrounded the patient's bed. One by one they marked his unusual appearance, unusual even for a mutant. His skin was dark blue and was in some places covered in what seemed to be a fine fur, similar to Nightcrawler's that contrasted with the stark white sheet covering his lower body. The hair on his head was luminescent silver. Hanging out the side of his white covering was a thin tail ending in a vicious-looking bone spike.**

"**Relation of yours?" Logan asked looking pointedly at Nightcrawler. **

"**He is my son." Kurt said to himself, never taking his worried gaze off the blue body of the boy in front of him, "My son." He turned to Jean and asked, "How much do you remember?"**

"**Not much, going into labour mainly, though I know there is more. I just can't seem to reach the memories." **

"**I too remember his birth. Though I can not imagine how this all happened, or how he managed to get here. We need to figure this out." **

**This brief conversation was met with confused glances and shrugs from their team-mates and an outraged expression forming on Cyclops' face. But before he could say anything the professor returned from his trip to Cerebro.**

"**Indeed we do Nightcrawler. And I fear there is much more to this story than we are privy to at the moment. I will need two teams to leave immediately. Wolverine, you will go with Storm. You both will take the jet. Cyclops you and Iceman will go with them but get off at a different location. Go suit up and I will brief you all more thoroughly when you are ready." **

"**Professor, I think I should stay…" Scott began only to fade away in shock at the look that Jean shot at him.**

"**I think you will be able to help the situation more by addressing this mission." The professor replied. It was clear to everyone in the room that the professor was separating Jean and Scott until the situation had calmed down.**

"**Of course, Professor." Scott demurred then turned on his heel and strode purposefully out of the room. Without another word being spoken the rest of the team slowly followed him out of the room until only Jean, Kurt and the Professor were left considering the blue, prone body on the bed in front of them.**

**Then the Professor turned and looked at the two X-men in turn, "So, tell me, what exactly _do_ you remember?" **

**_He was floating in white. Alone. Panic took over and reaching out in every direction he found them. And suddenly was them. A crowd was watching him as he lay on the ground. Some were yelling at him, some just looked disgusted and just a few sympathetic. He was in incredible pain, trying to curl around his head. Suddenly she was lying on a precipice holding tightly to her temples with her wings blocking out the dawn light. Then it all went dark. _**

**He woke up to the gentle touch on his hand. "Mother," he whispered.**

"**Yes, Jasper, I'm here. Your father is as well." Feeling his other hand taken in those large and steady hands he sighed with relief.**

"**I'm so sorry!" he sobbed as a solitary tear rolled down his cheek.**

"_**Calm, you have done nothing wrong. Calm and open your eyes. We need you to be strong. Now open your eyes, we have someone for you to meet."**_

"**The Professor," Jasper stated as he opened his eyes and looked into his parents faces. "He is here? Are we at the Institute?" He asked excitedly trying to sit up, only to slouch back defeated, "I ache all over… especially my head." He added with a wince.**

"**Yes, you were quite battered, but seem to be healing well. And if you feel up to it perhaps you could shed some light on our current situation?" this voice came from behind his mother and as she moved to the side he saw the professor rolling toward the large bed he was laid out upon. "You have caused quite a commotion. And not a small amount of confusion." He added with a wry smile.**

"**You see, Silver, ven you suddenly appeared, Jean and myself started remembering things. Times, that vee ver vith you but… now… vell…" Nightcrawler struggled to finish.**

"**We can't make any sense of it." Jean finished for him. "It is like a dream, a fragmented dream. We remember having you and caring for you when you were a baby and then I remember something about losing you… but even the professor cant find more memories in our heads." She sighed in frustration and turned away holding her head as tears started to track down her cheeks.**

**Nightcrawler put a large, three fingered hand on her shoulder and she turned to him wiped her eyes and looked again at the boy on the bed.**

**He looked around the room and his gaze was immediately drawn to the large windows looking out on the palatial gardens surrounding the mansion and saw that it was morning. The wooden panelling on the walls and canopy bed on which he was currently lying were all very dark and the floor was carpeted with a thick maroon rug that made a scrunching sound under the professor's wheels.**

"**How long have I been here?" He asked Jean.**

"**Five days, you teleported into my room in the mansion five nights ago. You were in a coma for two days and have been sleeping for the last three." She answered then looked to the professor who nodded to her to go on. "The other two mutants were brought into the mansion the next day and have been unconscious the entire time. Do you remember them?"**

"**They, they were… my brother and my sister. Don't _you_ remember?" he looked at all three of them desperately seeking some sign of affirmation. Seeing the look in his eyes Jean burst into tears and was drawn into an embrace by Kurt, who in turn looked worriedly at the professor. **

"**There is a great deal that we don't know right know young Jasper. But our main advantage is that we know that we don't know if that makes any sense at all. And now that you're awake we can work towards finding out more about what it is exactly that has occurred. But I believe that our main goal should be awakening… your siblings. I can sense their life force, but their minds are blank to me and it is a most disturbing sensation. Do you feel that you can get up? And walk perhaps?"**

**As an answer he slid over in the large bed and nimbly fell off the side and stood before the three adults clad only in his own blue fur.**

**It took a moment for him to realise that he was stark naked in front of his parents and their revered professor. Suddenly he vanished and they could hear rustling in the walk-in-closet off to the side of the room until Jasper emerged and limped over to them wearing a robe the same colour as his blue fur.**

"**Well, you take after your father even more than we thought, you are a teleporter then?" the professor asked him interestedly. **

"**I also have my mother's powers. _But she taught me it was rude to talk like this unless it was necessary."_ He spoke the last in all of their minds while looking to his mother for approval.**

"**I think I remember that… now." She said as she nodded to her son and a smile spread on his face as he ran to her and hugged her tightly.**

"**I have missed you so much. I couldn't stop her and I couldn't control myself. She was there from the beginning. I love you mom and I am so sorry." he sobbed into her shoulder.**

"**Who was there Silver?"**

"**Cassandra… Cassandra Nova Xavier." He said as he turned a distraught gaze to the professor who was shocked beyond words.**

**The professor was sitting behind his desk with an anxious expression on his face. Jasper sat with one of his parents on each side of him on a couch that had been moved in front of the desk to face the professor.**

**Jean and Kurt had done their best to stop trying to touch him since he had got out of his bed. It was as if they could not reconcile the fact that he was actually there, within their reach. When the professor retired to his office to consider the importance of this new information his parents had walked him into his father's room and in his wardrobe, picked out some of Nightcrawler's clothes for him to wear, some that would accommodate his tail until they bought him some of his own. He had had to pull the belt to the tightest hole as he was quite a bit smaller then his father, and still he had to fight to keep the pants on his hips. **

**They fussed over him until he stopped them and said "Enough! I can dress myself." and pushed their hands away. As he finished buttoning his white shirt he ran the tip of his tail through his hair, straightening out the shoulder length, silver-white mess. His parents had watched on in wonder as their son organised himself, marvelling at the fact that he was right in front of them, even doing something as mundane as dressing. Jasper had sensed their scrutiny, looked up at them and smiled, "I know, I'm happy to see you too."**

**Now as they sat on the couch in his office the professor looked at each of them in turn then pointedly at Jasper. "You are blocking me. Are you aware of it?" **

"**No, what do you mean?" Jasper looked confused.**

"**When I try to read your mind, I feel nothing. I sense you, but not your thoughts, emotions or intentions, the things that I can sense in everyone else. The same as what I sense with the others, your siblings." After making this declaration he buried his head in his hands for a time then continued, "The name you mentioned before is one I had not expected nor wished to ever hear again. Now that I concentrate on the memories the same happened with her mind…" at this the professor trailed off as if following a thought that evaded the grasp of his considerable intellect. He looked up suddenly and said "I think it is time for you to tell us your story from beginning to end. Start as far back as you need to, or as far back as you can remember."**

"**Well, I will try. My first memory is of my first birthday. So I will start there?" He looked at his mother as if to ask permission. She just put her arm around him and nodded her assent.**

"**My first memory is of my mother holding me. She looked just the same as she does now, but her hair was longer. She was singing to me, singing a lullaby. And then I slept. I woke up in fathers arms some time later to see mother carrying a lopsided cake into the room and they were singing me a birthday song, but I went back to sleep. **

"**The thing that woke me next was the sound of crying. Two babies crying. When he noticed I was awake father picked me up and I could see mother carrying an infant on each arm and trying to settle them. It only took and few minutes and they were asleep in her arms, then I remember her putting them one each side of me on the bed.**

"**After that we were raised as a family. Mother told me that the rooms we lived in were part of the mansion, this mansion, and were strange in that some doors would lead no where, to just another door in the same room. But to me it was home, and to Eden and Bethany, my brother and sister.**

"**Mother and father taught us to read and write, to do maths and such. We had a library and we learnt out of the books within it. They both helped me with my powers, which developed around my third birthday. But I always had fur like papa. And a tail. Mother trained my mental abilities and we were on about the same level when I turned twelve. And father helped with the teleportation and taking advantage my more obvious mutations like my feet. He taught me what he was taught as a child in the circus, acrobatics. And fencing as well, they taught both us all fencing and fighting. **

"**I guess it was reasonable at the time to teach us to defend ourselves because of the strange circumstances. I remember over-hearing mother and father talking about escape when I was younger but through the years nothing changed. We couldn't get out of the rooms it seemed no one was going to come in. The kitchen was always full of the same foods, no matter how much we ate, and we never saw anyone else. Only the five of us. I guess we eventually let our guard down and accepted that we couldn't do anything about our situation and went on living what we three children saw as normal lives.**

"**It was when they were thirteen that Bethany and Eden first discovered their powers. Bethany woke up screaming one day with a rash across her shoulders and on her back, it took both me and my mother using our powers to calm her down and send her to sleep. **

"**For 5 days and nights Eden and I were there by her side keeping cold, wet towels pressed to her back to keep her fever down and sooth her pain and I also tried my best to draw off her pain using my telepathy. After a while of this I became aware of Eden with me in her mind. He was doing the same thing as I was and supplementing my calming thoughts while trying to give her the confidence to endure and as soon as I became aware of him helping I felt Bethany reaching out to us with her own mind. I held and steadied these tenuous connections as I reached further along it they suddenly became aware of our intertwining consciousness' and we were all locked together in a way I cannot describe. It was like it was simultaneously myself, Eden and Bethany. I could feel Bethany's pain and both of their confusion. And in the next instant the pain ripped us apart. And Bethany's wings broke through.**

"**At first they were lumps under her skin but in that moment they were revealed as bone spurs that cut through her skin and she passed out from the pain. Mother came running and immediately retrieved a scalpel to cut away the skin around them, to stop it tearing. Bethany was unconscious and the spurs just kept growing. When Bethany didn't wake up for 24 hours and the bones were sticking out about 11 inches from her back, I took Eden's hand and we each held one of Bethany's and we went in after her. Well I went after her and took Eden along. He was still very new to his powers and shy about using them. **

**When we found her, Bethany was in a fever dream, floating through distorted colours and voices and overlaying all was the pain. She became aware of Eden and I and she clung to us, then as before we three were one together. **

"**Together we pushed away her pain and the dreams. Then I led them deeper into her mind, but simultaneously deeper into each of our minds. It is hard to explain. It was if as I tried to find a solution in Bethany's mind I had to explore just as far into Eden's and my own, and when I say 'I' I mean all three of us. We pushed each other to do what we didn't know that we could do and Eden remembered it all. In the end I don't know if we used Bethany's latent healing ability or Eden's physic changing but I think it was a combination of the two and energy from Eden and I that worked in the end. We all felt the drain of energy from our bodies and the easing of the awful pain and with a mixture of relief and weariness we slept.**

"**We all woke at the same time in a tangle on the bed. I remember my legs being wrapped around one of Eden's legs and my arms around Bethany's stomach and partly under both of them. We didn't even try to get up we were so completely drained of energy. I can't remember how long we lay there when mother walked in and dropped the tray of medical supplies she was carrying and exclaimed "Bethany!" And as we stirred from our torpor I realised that we weren't laying on the bedcovers but we were on a layer of feathers, or so it seemed. We all stood and as Bethany got up her newly grown wings spread and nearly knocked me off my feet. Father had heard the commotion and come running. When he got to the door he stopped in shock and joined us in admiring the glistening wings that were framing Bethany. Her wings were huge and pearlescent white, glittering as she moved them and she seemed as amazed by them as we all did. **

"**Over the next couple of weeks the wings faded to just a normal white and so did her hair, which was originally blonde, and Bethany learned to control them. She said it came very easily to her, and even more so after her new muscles developed. For those couple of weeks she ate voraciously and new shoulder and back muscles grew around her wings giving her greater control. She never did fly though; there was no room in the mansion for it but she did get very good at using them to box me and Eden around when we sparred.**

"**What we did to heal Bethany I still don't really understand, even though we learned to use all our powers together over the next months. You see we were, are, all telepaths and to some degree telekinetic, though I am much more powerful in this area then the others. Bethany also has psionic abilities and limited healing powers and Eden has the most amazing mind. He remembers everything right down to the synaptic pathways in my mind and can sense a persons potential, mutation-wise or otherwise and trigger it. **

"**Our hive-mind, as we started calling it, was what we explored the most because it was easier for me to teach them the extent of our powers just by allowing them access to that part of my mind. We could maintain it even indifferent rooms and learnt to use each others bodies and powers as if they were our own. This, as never before, drew us close together and bonded us. We grew inseparable we ate and slept together, and it was easier if Eden and I groomed Bethany's wings because of the awkward positions she would have to get into to reach, and thus we became what we are now, a trinity. Though I don't know what my new powers will mean to that.**

"**From when Bethany grew her wings we had around one month of peace, and it was a good month. Then everything changed. We were all in the kitchen one morning eating breakfast and planning our day when mother and father were taken by a huge man who knocked them unconscious from behind, taking us by surprise by coming through on of the doorways that we thought led nowhere. The three of us were frozen, we were connected in our minds but could do nothing outside of them.**

"**We stood rooted to the floor in this way for a long time and then we all went limp and fell unconscious to the floor. When we woke we were restrained, naked against a wall in some kind of medical lab. In what I assume was _her _medical lab, and _she _was walking, or pacing up and down in front of us, inspecting us. I don't know why we were restrained we all still couldn't move, but I couldn't reach to the others using my telepathy either. She came to a stop in front of my and locked me into her eerie gaze. She was a short woman who looked old and strangely hard, as if her features were made of wood. Her scalp was bare and her eyebrows arched when she moved her eyes. Her face was set in a scowl as she regarded my naked body then locked her gaze on my face again. Then I felt her; felt her eeling her way through my mind. And I could do nothing to stop her. None of the shields or blanking techniques mother had taught me had any effect. She observed my entire life, my entire being and I could sense her amusement at my struggles against her, but she just pushed me away as if I was a feather and she the wind, she pushed me out of my own mind, you can have no idea what a shocking and terrifying experience that is, to have no control of your own mind, to be violated like that.**

"**When she finished with me she moved across to Eden and then repeated then process again with Bethany. When she had finished with all of us she too two paces back and spoke to all of us at once. 'My name is Cassandra Nova Xavier and you are not what you think you are. Any of you. You are all _my_ creations, my tools. And as such I will use you as I see fit. **

'**As you have seen you have no control if I choose for it to be so. And right now I do. I am a telepath of the highest order, incomparable to your powers and if I need to I can use your bodies without your volition. If you obey me your lives will be pleasant, if you don't you will be slaves. If you want to ask questions do it now, through your minds.**

"**We were all silent for a time; we couldn't communicate with each other or even look at each other. When I had exhausted myself trying I said, _WHERE ARE MY PARENTS? _**

"**I let the entirety of my anger and frustration and power vent in that outburst but she didn't even flinch. Instead she clamped down on my mind again then said matter-of-factly; 'Your parents are gone. You will never see them again. They served their purpose raising you and they have exceeded my expectations in that area. You all have a grasp on your powers and can fight, that is well. I will still have to educate you further in that regard but you will find my methods more efficient.**

"'**You and you' she said, pointing to Eden and Bethany 'already know that Jean Grey and Kurt Wagner were not your real parents and even though they were yours (indicating me), you were all created in this lab, by me. Using part of my own genetic material combined with three sets other mutant genetic material. The three embryos were then produced and implanted into the female mutants and caused to gestate. **

'**By doing this I was able isolate the X-gene mutations in each of the parents' genomes and create three mutants that combined the X-gene mutations from both parents, with my unique genetic material as a base binding it all, and you three together, allowing each of you access to the others minds as well as giving me control of them. So in a way I am the parent of all of you and I am the only parent you will have or need from now on.**

"**She didn't talk any further but I felt her relax her hold on my mind. _We were created? _I asked.**

"'**Yes,' she answered, 'to serve my purposes. Your parents suspected this all along. They had never had sex and yet you were obviously a product of them both. For you see if two mutants have a child together, the child will not inherit both of their powers. X-gene mutations do not work that way. A child may receive one of its parents' powers, but will mostly develop a unique mutation. When you were born you had obviously inherited your father's mutation and when your psychic abilities manifested your parents realised that you had your mothers as well. And so it was clear to them that you were not an ordinary mutant.' She looked at Bethany and Eden and said, 'Both of you also have the abilities of two mutants. Neither of your respective sets of parents' remembers anything connected to your existence and soon neither will Jean Grey and Kurt Wagner. They will not remember you and so they will not try to rescue you. Anything further?' she ended.**

"**When neither I nor Bethany made to ask anything Eden stated 'I'm in pain. Make it stop.' I tried then harder than ever to reach him across our link, to go to him, to turn my head toward him, anything. And in all my efforts I was thwarted again, though I must have made an impression because she turned her head and stared at me as she spoke to Eden. 'I know you are in pain I can feel it. Your powers have combined in an unforseen way. You didn't have this pain before because your powers were not fully explored. However I just explored them. You will learn to live with this pain, to ignore it. This will be part of your training. For the next few months you will be taught everything that you will need to know and over that time I will judge your receptiveness to my offer, you wont be able to fool me so don't try. For now, sleep.' And just like that I was unconscious. **

"**I woke up in a room much like this one. And felt myself get out of the bed and dress myself in a robe and walked through the only door and down a brightly lit hallway into what looked like a hospital room where Cassandra Nova was waiting with another woman. The stranger was dressed like it was winter with a padded vest, gloves and a leather trench-coat, so I could only see her face, the rest was covered. Neither of them said anything and as I was moving to lay on one of the beds in the room I tried to teleport but I couldn't, then I tried to run and found that I could not control any of my movements. So I relaxed and decided to resign myself to not being able to do anything for the time being and see what happened next. 'Yes that is good, Jasper. The sooner you learn that you can not evade me the better for both of us.' Cassandra Nova said to me. She turned to the stranger and said 'We will begin now, open your mind.' Then turned again to face me and I became aware of her manipulating my mind. _Don't resist or it will cause you incredible pain._ I heard her declare in my head, then she proceeded to force information through my mind.**

"**You see this was her 'more efficient' method she mentioned for educating us. The stranger, who I was later to learn, was called Lupa for her werewolf-like powers, was a kind of expert in hand-to-hand combat and Cassandra Nova was taking this information from her mind and organising it into mine. This was my first clue as to her real power. Mother had told me about your ability to manipulate memories, Professor Xavier, and that you were considered the most powerful telepath on earth but I don't think she had even imagined this kind power. It was all I could do just to keep track of her actions in mind own mind. I couldn't even begin to comprehend the entire extent of her manipulations.**

"**These sessions lasted a couple of hours, and were performed every day for I don't know how long, though it seemed forever. There were two other people who seemed to be Cassandra Novas subordinates, for she didn't seem to control them as she did me. There was the huge man who took mother and papa. His name was Tusk. He was super strong and could create smaller versions of himself out of a hump on his back, though to do so was to cause himself considerable pain. And the other was a girl not much older than I was and she called herself called Polaris who had power of magnetism. From these three Cassandra Nova raided skills and techniques that would serve some purpose. The majority were fighting techniques, or tracking techniques or methods to control certain kinds of power both mental and physical.**

**These sessions then progressed to physical training in a gymnasium. For all this time I had been kept separate from Eden and Bethany and this did not change. Cassandra Nova forced my body to train for over 6 hours a day. It was as if she was testing my physical limits, she seemed impressed with my acrobatic skills especially when combined with teleportation, it was one of the few times the scowl left her face. I could feel my body growing stronger, as well as see it. After I had been inactive for so long it was interesting to be tested this way. But I never, ever let my guard down towards Cassandra Nova and in the end I believe I found a place in my mind where I could exist free of her observation and so because she could not sense my treacherous thoughts against her she believed they didn't exist. **

"**When I was alone I spent most of my time exploring my mind, reliving my memories or testing my capabilities and it was during one of these moments of solitude that I found a presence in my mind. If my mind had retreated into an impenetrable box, then this was another box inside. And I couldn't find a way in. This became my obsession when I was alone and even when I wasn't. It was foolish of me to risk discovery like this but I could not solve the riddle.**

"**The time came when we were released from our prison, to a degree. That day when I followed my body to the gymnasium I found Eden and Bethany walking in through other doors. My first impulse was to try to get to them, but over the period of my imprisonment I had learned to restrain myself from acting outside my little box and this is what I did while I waited to see what would happen next. **

"**_The time has come for you to serve your purpose. You will leave this place and go into the world. And you will wreak as much damage as you can._ We heard Cassandra Nova speak in our mind followed by the strange sensation of being free of her influence over my movements. I brought my hand in front of my face and rolled my fingers as I tested control of my own body. When was confident the control was going to last I ran across the large gymnasium room we were in and embraced Bethany and Eden who seemed just as stunned as I was at this freedom. As soon as I touched them I entered their minds as easily as if no time had passed and we were joined again. We were all aware of Cassandra Nova's presence looming underneath the surface of our connection but for the moment we ignored her and shared all we had been through. Bethany was so relieved to see both of us, so much so that she started shaking. Eden was reserved, too reserved, he told us that this was because of his powers and if he didn't keep control of them the pain crippled him. This occurred in an instant and we were interrupted when Cassandra Nova spoke again; _Do you agree?_**

"**All at once we queried her as to what she was asking and she went on _When you first came into my possession I made you an offer: to do my bidding in exchange for a life of luxury. My bidding is to go and do as much damage to New York City as you can; I have trained you in your powers for just this reason. Do you agree?_**

"**Our instant reactions to this question were all quite different. Eden cowered away from her presence in our minds while Bethany waited for one of us to do something or answer for her. I immediately checked on the others then sized up her presence with my own trying to protect the others as a said loudly, both out loud and through the telepathic connection 'We will never do such a thing, we will never kill for you. Why do you do this? And what is your connection with Charles Xavier?' ignoring my questions all she said was _You disappoint me Jasper. _Then she disappeared from our perception.**

"**We were left standing in our original embrace, with my arms around both their necks, and were at a loss as to what to do and as I was pulling from them I felt my arms clench and pull them closer and teleport. **

"**We became aware of a hard and cold surface underneath our feet and that we were enveloped in a thick grey mist. We realised that once again we could no longer control our bodies and were locked in an embrace where I was holding them tightly against my body. I felt Cassandra Nova ooze her way into my mind and I quickly retreated into my haven, which meant cutting my conscious connection with my siblings but Cassandra Nova couldn't find my thoughts which enraged her. _I have methods of bending your will Jasper. Your 'siblings', _her message dripped with disdain at the term, _would have followed your lead and of course I didn't know whether you were willing to work for me, because you have found a way to hide from me. However this is now irrelevant. You will live as slaves under my control. Your honour has saved no one. _I could feel her raping my mind trying to find me and when she couldn't is continued _WHY DO YOU DEFY ME? I could give you anything you asked for! Do you do this for your parents? THEY DON"T EVEN KNOW YOU EXIST! _**

"**She suddenly left my mind as she went on to do the same invasion to both Bethany then Eden. When, still frustrated, she didn't find any connection to me there Cassandra Nova came back to my mind to threaten me. _You are somewhere you cannot escape here without me boy, this is the dimension you pass through when you teleport. You don't have the knowledge to escape and you need me to get back. You could age here and no one would know. I could leave you and you brother and sister here to starve. Or yet I could let you hear their suffering. What will you do to ease them?_**

"**Eden's barriers and self control were ripped away and he screamed in pain. His power had grown out of all proportion in the time we had been possessed by Cassandra. His physic Changing powers combined with his massive mental organising combined to make him aware of every single atom around us, every thought and every neuron in our heads, every reaction taking place and it was more than he could handle. The pain incomparable to anything I could imagine. He literally fell to his knees and let out some mix of a scream and a sob. I could feel this pain, his pain, even though Cassandra Nova was keeping most of it from me, I could barely think. And I was aware of Cassandra giving a full measure of the pain Eden was feeling to Bethany and I saw her whole body go rigid. I felt my anger building. This was a pain anyone would choose death over. My rage grew because of this treatment of the two people I loved most in existence. Because my parents were denied any knowledge of me. Of being held captive in my own mind for so long. Because of this needless pain and torture. Of all the outrages committed against us. I summoned every once of my psychic might and threw myself against Cassandra Nova. I caught her by surprise and there was a moment that I thought I could over come her, but I proved insufficient. I could feel her pleasure that she had drawn me out of my hiding place and her surprise at the strength of my powers. She held me at bay and slowly forced me back but as she did this she added physical pain to Eden and Bethany's suffering making them claw themselves. **

"**It was at this point when I was truly willing to die to stop the pain they were enduring. I drew on wells of power within myself. I threw everything I could into my fight. A strange sensation ran over me the moment I decided to die to kill Cassandra Nova, it was like being immersed in warm water on a cold day, warm water that would ease all my pain and make me invincible. And a familiar voice in my head said _You are right and she will pay._**

"**As this sensation ran through my limbs I immediately knew that I could defeat Cassandra Nova. I reached effortlessly along all the links in my mind, the link to Bethany, to Eden and finally to Cassandra Nova. I tore away her influence from my siblings and put her back in her mind. Then I entered her mind. She tried to erect barriers against me but they melted away before me and she fled in fear. I absorbed her memories, thoughts and actions. Her entire being was a twisted and deformed thing, hateful and treacherous. And as soon as I had dominated her entirely I left. I left her with one message _Enjoy your existence in solitude._ I cut her off telepathically, so she could not venture out of her mind. In doing so I severed numerous other connections belonging to people she had been controlling. I took her voice, sight and hearing. And then left her mind for good. **

"**I realised I had been so involved in Cassandra Nova's mind that I had ignored my brother and sister. I was still standing frozen over them as Bethany held Eden against the pain and they were both sobbing against the other's shoulder. I noted with some interest that it appeared as if I was burning in a white flame, but it was not burning me. As I knelt and wrapped my arms around both of them and Bethany engulfed us all in her wings. I entered into our bond. This was not an easy thing to do as they were trying to keep the pain from me but I entered and took stock of the situation. I forced the pain from Bethany's mind I harnessed Eden's powers in his own mind and drew them in one bit at a time. I focussed his mind on my body and sent calm at him through our link his breathing slowed and shivering stopped. He opened his eyes and then let him grow accustomed to the situation. When he was confident enough I let go of him and Bethany and stood up, and quickly collapsed, still burning white flames. It was to be expected I thought to myself, I had used too much of my energy I could barely keep my eyes open.**

"**Bethany shuffled over to me and helped me to stand while Eden climbed to his feet. 'Is she gone?' Bethany asked me.**

"'**Yes.' I replied though I didn't really have confidence that she would stay that way and even though they both sensed that they were more than grateful for any reprieve. **

"**All at once we became aware of our predicament. Another dimension Cassandra Nova had said and the atmosphere was made of the same stuff that appears with me when I teleport. And as if it were scripted that way, as soon as we became aware or our problem a piercing noise started to sound and grew loader as if it were approaching at a high speed. **

"**Keeping hold of Bethany at my side I lunged and grabbed hold of Eden's wrist and teleported away with all the energy I had left. It wasn't enough, it would have been had we appeared closer to the ground but we were high up in earths atmosphere, above North America, I panicked and teleported in closer I think I ended up in New York, it was a city. I was going to teleport us all to Mother, where ever she was, but I blacked out before I got the chance. **

"**The next thing I remember was waking up this morning, in the mansion. **

"**I guess I did find mother." **


	2. Chapter 2

When he had finished telling his story Jasper's mother's arms were wrapped around him with her forehead resting against the side of his neck suppressing her quiet sobbing. His father had one large hand on his shoulder and tears rolling unashamedly down his cheeks. The professor's hands had crept further and further up his face during the recount until he was covering his eyes completely and resting his arms on his desk.

Silence prevailed in the professor's office until Jasper looked at his father and asked, "Do you remember any of it now?"

"None of the facts, but zee emotions… I can still feel them, Ven you were little…" His face fell into his free hand as he struggled with his turbulent emotions.

Jasper reached up and put his hand on his father's shoulder and pulled his head down so that their foreheads were touching. He whispered _Relax papa…_ in his father's mind and flowed deeper through Nightcrawler's mind searching for Cassandra Nova's impacts.

When he had overcome Cassandra Nova, he had raided her mind, much as she had done to his before, for all the information she possessed about his parents and what had been done to them. All he had to do was locate where she had severed the memories from his father's mind. It was quite simple to find the gap left by the missing memories because it was all that Nightcrawler was focussing on at that moment and because he trusted his son implicitly to do him no harm.

As soon as the gap was identified, as if he was flicking a light switch he reconnected the damaged sections and drew back into his own mind in time to see the look of wonder wash over his father's face.

More confident in his ability now Jasper turned in his seat and looked into his mother's eyes and repeated the process in half the time and as the realisation of what had happened dawned on Jean she was forcibly drawn into an embrace by her son.

"What just happened?" asked Professor Xavier, startling everyone else in the room, all of whom had been too engrossed in their new memories to remember his presence.

"I remember everyzing." Kurt said to the Professor, "Silver gave back our memories. Eden and Bethany… I remember teaching you all. And Bethany's vings!" he sighed in awe.

"We aged, but we are not old now. How is that possible?" Jean turned to the professor, "We aged with the children, I remember that I grew some grey hairs, but now I don't have any. Is that possible?"

"Yes." Silver answered before the professor could formulate a theory. "Cassandra Nova had another mutant under her control, this mutant was put into a coma. She kept her this way in order to control her powers to create an alternate dimension. This reality used information that she pilfered from your minds, information about the mansion and the things that you would need to raise a family.

"The dimension was created in such a way that anyone entering it through the portal would age normally while remaining there but when they left through the portal it would be as if no time had passed for them. So in reality you would have been gone no more than a second. But because she was able to teleport the three of us out by using my powers we stayed as we were inside."

"So you now possess all of her amassed knowledge?" asked the Professor.

"Most of it, yes." answered Silver quickly. He was restless and recovering his energy. He climbed up to balance in a squatting position on the back of the couch, unable to hide his pride that he could achieve something like this against so formidable a mind as Cassandra Nova. "It comes to me. It is separate from my experiences and even different to that of the hive mind. It is hard to explain…"

"Could you share it with me? Cassandra Nova's knowledge that is?"

"I could try, I'm feeling much spritelier now." As soon as he had said this he tumbled off the couch and jumped to land cross-legged on professor Xavier's desk reaching for his hand that lay on the desk between them. But the professor quickly pulled his hand away before Silver could grasp it.

"I will need to prepare myself Jasper, as you must know I have history with Cassandra Nova, and none of it is pleasant. I anticipate that, as beneficial to our situation as this knowledge may be, it will be a shock to my psyche. I will need to take some time to prepare. In the meantime, we shall see to Eden and Bethany. Please, follow me."

The professor reversed away from his desk then rotated towards the door of his office. Jean and Kurt fell in behind him and Jasper followed them as they left and they all made their way down the hallway to the elevators.

As the doors opened they were greeted by a surprised, white haired woman.

"Ah! The new recruit! Up and about I see. It is good to finally meet you, my name is Ororo Monroe, or Storm if you prefer." She said before anyone said anything get a word in, extending her hand to shake Jasper's, "I was just going to check on the others in the infirmary, care to join me?" She continued cheerfully, motioning for them to join her in the elevator.

"With pleasure, Storm, we were just going to see if young Jasper here could do anything for them. Your help would be much appreciated." Professor Xavier answered as he rolled into the elevator and pressed the appropriate button.

The doors closed and the elevator started moving downwards. Storm turned to Silver and asked cheerfully "So, Jasper, what are your powers? You _look_ a lot like your father, so can you teleport?"

"Among other things." he answered hesitantly, with a cryptic smile. He was a bit taken aback by this new person's familiarity and not knowing how to respond he continued, "It is a long story, but let's just say that I have the best parts of both my parents."

The elevator doors opened as Ororo shot questioning glances at both Jean and Kurt who just smiled at her. "We'll explain later, Storm. Don't worry; we just need to see Eden and Bethany. Those are the names of the other two children; Eden and Bethany. They are our children as well." Jean spoke excitedly to her old friend.

"Um… Alright then." stated a confused, and strangely jealous Storm as she opened the doors to the infirmary for the rest of the group to pass through.

Silver gasped at the sight that greeted them and immediately felt his parents' hands on his shoulders, both reassuring him that all was well and restraining him from running to the two prone bodies on the beds.

Eden lay on his back on the bed closest to the door. The scratches on his face were healing well, but he was very pale. Bethany was on the bed behind Eden's. She lay on her stomach, with her wings falling lax to the floor beside her. Her wounds, like Eden's were almost healed, but she too was very pale.

Jasper walked slowly toward the beds where his brother and sister lay. He reached out to touch Eden's arm but hesitated before he made contact and drew back his hand.

He could not sense them in any way. When he searched for them telepathically he could only sense empty space, not even the usual synaptic firings of a normal living person.

"I don't know what is wrong with them; I can't remember anything that happened after I tried to teleport. I don't know if I can help them at all, but if anything goes wrong, just… well I don't know what you should do."

"Don't worry Jasper, we will do all in our power to help your siblings. Anything that you can tell us about their condition will be more than we already know." the Professor reassured him.

"Perhaps we should wait another day, so that you can rest some more?" Jean put forward, worried for her son.

"No, I should do this now, in case whatever is wrong with them can get any worse." Silver told his mother.

"Can we help you in any way?" Storm asked, confused at the sudden serious tone of the situation but not questioning it.

Jasper paused to consider the situation, "We should move their beds closer together so I can be in contact with both of them at the same time. From there I guess I will just have to wing it." He smiled nervously, "I may not even be able to do anything."

Kurt moved around to the far side of Bethany's bed and, carefully avoiding her feathers, pushed her bed on its wheels towards Eden's until the two were almost touching. He had to pull one wing up off the floor and place it over Eden so that the feathers were not crushed by the bed.

Jasper moved to stand at the head of the two beds and as he did Kurt put his hand on his son's shoulder. "Good luck, liebchen." he whispered and moved to stand with Jean and the others beside Eden's bed.

"What is he going to do?" Storm asked Jean in a whisper as Silver put one blue, four-fingered hand on each of his siblings' heads, closed his eyes and tried to enter the hive mind.

He didn't know what to expect, but he fell into the hive connection as easily as ever, and both Eden and Bethany were there within his reach. They drew him to themselves and said, _Open your eyes. _So he did.

Eden sat on his knees to Jasper's right and Bethany, completing the circle, sat cross legged with her wings folded tightly behind her to his left. They were surrounded by darkness. Above below and all around there was nothing at all to be seen.

_You're here! Where have you been? _Eden asked.

_Silver, do you know where we are? _Bethany added excitedly as she watched him take in the eerie surrounds.

_We can't go anywhere here. We walk, but there is no way to see if we move. It is all just nothingness. Is it another dimension like the place with the silver mist? _ Eden asked.

Jasper turned to study him and Bethany seated side by side in front of him. Neither of them were wearing any clothing, nor had any of the wounds their bodies had displayed in the infirmary.

As soon as he noticed their nakedness they became clothed in garments familiar from the time with their parents before Cassandra Nova. They looked down at themselves in surprise and asked in unison; _How did that happen?_

_I think that I did it. _Jasper answered then continued, _Eden, the pain, your powers? What has happened to them?_

_I don't know. There is no pain here. But also, I cannot sense anything but we three._

_You cannot sense anything else? _Jasper was confused. _You should know that I have found mother and father. They are back in Professor Xavier's mansion, where we are, or our bodies are at least. They didn't remember anything, as Cassandra said would be the case, but I restored their memories and now they can remember everything. _

_Where are they? How do we get to them? _Bethany asked excitedly.

_Well, they are in the room with us right now. We are all in the real mansion. The both of you have been asleep for five days, as have I, ever since I teleported us back down to earth and… _Silver trailed off as his guilt overrode him. He bowed his head ashamedly and continued, _They say you were in a coma, and even I couldn't reach you telepathically until I touched you. I fear that I have made a mistake and caused both of you irreparable damage. _

_No! Don't say that Jasper! _Bethany scolded. _If it weren't for your actions we wouldn't even be alive! Either that or we would be killing other people. We would still be enslaved by that witch._ Her mouth twisting venomously on the last word.

_This is infinitely better than living under her power, brother. You should know that. Whatever you did to free us, we could never be anything but grateful for._ Eden said earnestly, _We have missed you here. We don't know how much time has passed, we don't seem to need to sleep… But now that you are with us, we will find a way to escape. _He stated confidently.

_But that is what I mean, I don't know if you can escape from this place. Right now I am standing over your bodies, which remain unconscious in the X-men's infirmary._

_So where are **we** now? _Eden asked.

Jasper reached out and ran the fabric of Eden's shirt through his fingers considering his brothers question, and looked down to notice that he was still clad in what his parents had picked out for him that morning.

_If was to hazard a guess, we are in the sum of our three minds, in the space where we are always connected. The space that was previously occupied by Cassandra Nova. That is why you have no pain here Eden, because this place exists entirely within our own heads. And if this is true then I guess… _he let go of Eden's shirt and held his hands together out in front of him, palms up, and three miniature figures of light appeared, dancing in a circle, one with luminous wings, and another with a tail, _we can make or do anything as if it is real. Like in a dream, anything is possible._

Bethany held a hand in front of her and the winged figure left the circle and glided over to dance above her outstretched hand. Silver looked at Eden who smiled and held his hand out, summoning one tiny sprite to his palm.

_So papa and mother… They remember us? _Bethany asked absent-mindedly spinning her figure over her hand and looking to Jasper.

_They do now. And they are young again. When they were taken out of the dimension that we grew up in they went back to how they were, before us. Mother looks especially young. _He answered as he held his arms out straight from his sides to allow his figure to do a tumble across his shoulders to jump to and bow on his opposite hand; _She was amazed when she remembered that she had had grey hair. _He added with a smile.

_At least she will admit she had some! _Bethany exclaimed, _Remember when we found father plucking his grey hairs out? He has probably blocked the memory out because he thought it was so traumatic! _They all started laughing at the memory of their vain father.

_I guess we can look forward to all that fuss with father again. _Jasper went on; _they are only in their 20's now, only ten years older than us. They are back living in the mansion with the professor and the other X men._

_Did you meet Professor Xavier?_ Eden asked.

_Yes. He is taller than I expected._ Jasper answered with a grin and looked up to find an answering expression on his brother's face.

Eden looked down to contemplate the sprite in his lap. _So, we can do anything here?_ he asked.

_I guess so. Why? _Jasper answered.

Eden suddenly jumped to his feet as his figure of light, disappeared in a brilliant flicker,_ What about this?_ He said as he spread his arms wide.

With a flurry behind his outstretched arms spread a pair of white, feathered wings similar to his sisters.

_Wow!_ he exclaimed, surprised with the effects of his actions, then looking at Bethany, said with a smile and a shrug; _I have always wondered what it would be like to fly _and without further ado leaped into the air, spiralling over their heads. He was not really using his newly grown wings to fly but seeming to enjoy the experience regardless. He hovered in the air above them looking down.

_What are you waiting for? _he teased them.

Jasper startled as his sister instantly sprang to her feet and leapt after their brother.

This was the first time he had ever seen her fly and she was grace personified, obviously using her own skills to take flight. She spread her wings wide and pushed down, smoothly rising higher with each beat. No doubt she had been trained to fly in this manner by Cassandra Nova. Silver cringed at the unwelcome thought and its intrusion on this happy reunion. He pushed it out of his mind and looked up to see his siblings chasing each other through the black nothingness.

He considered calling them back down to try to solve the problem of getting them back into the real world but decided not to, and let them fly further away. He concentrated for a split second, and he was suddenly sitting on a grassy hillside instead of black nothingness, and watching them twirl around each other, climbing higher up through a cloud-strewn, sapphire sky.

Laying back on the soft grass he sighed out, relaxing into the cheerful situation, forgetting about the worries of bringing his brother and sister back and trying to just enjoy the idyllic scene around him.

From the green grass underneath him, to the clouds slowly rolling overhead and the cool breeze pushing them, he wanted to remember it all. But most of all he wanted to remember the sound of his brother and sister laughing with each other in sheer joy of the moment, denying that any problems existed for them. He wanted to keep it all.

The two would-be angels, previously circling each other in the air, suddenly made a dramatic synchronised swoop down upon him. As they each grabbed one of his arms, they soared straight back up into the sky dragging him along, with one sibling laughing madly on each side of him.

With a devious smile Jasper somersaulted out of their grasp and started to fall, with dangerous speed, towards the ground.

_NO! _they cried in a panic and immediately swooped, turning to dive after him, only to have him shoot up between them in a blue blur laughing at them just as madly as they had been laughing at him but moments before.

_You don't need wings to fly here! Catch me if you can!_ Jasper hollered back the challenge to them as he sped away towards the horizon.

It didn't take them long to catch on and soon all three of them were racing though the air playing a death-defying game of aerial tag. Speeding through the air they saw nothing but each other as the blurred landscape passed underneath them. They were back in the mansion, playing a game of tag in one of the rooms and giving absolutely no regard to the furniture or any parents occupying it. It was old times again, laughing and playing.

Eventually they set down on another grass covered hillside and collapsed together in a heap of giggling bodies. Suddenly Eden's wings disappeared in a popping bubble of feathers, setting them off in another fit of hilarity as soft white feathers covered them.

They lay back on the grass as their giggling receded and hugged together, Jasper in between his siblings, relaxing on the hillside. They had recovered something during their crazy flying game. They all felt it. It did not need to be said.

Jasper had been worried that the forced servitude and isolation under Cassandra Nova's thumb might have damaged or changed his brother and sister for the worse. And while they were undoubtedly changed, when they were together like this he knew that they would always be their own, and that that would always be enough. On that reassuring thought he drew Eden and Bethany closer to his body and just like old times they wrapped around each other and drifted into sleep bathed in warm sunshine.

Silver woke suddenly, held in the grip of an inexplicable anger and unaware of how much time they had passed in slumber. His mind was filled with negative and heated thoughts. Unwittingly, he was drawn to re-examining the memories of the atrocities committed by Cassandra Nova. He did not know exactly what Eden and Bethany had been subjected to, though also he was sure that he didn't want to know.

When he had been inside her head that was one of the only of her memories that he had rejected entirely. He had felt the sadistic pleasure she took from her absolute control of people, and thinking about her actions now filled him with a righteous rage at the treatment of his family. If he could get his hands on her again he didn't think he would be as merciful, he would truly make her pay in full for her actions.

_How _did_ you defeat her? _Eden asked curiously. He had been disturbed at having felt the anger rising in his brother and was trying to distract him from it.

Silver was at a loss for a moment. His mounting fury suddenly subsided and he was left considering his hateful thoughts of a moment before. They did not seem like his thoughts.

He had become accustomed to having his thoughts to himself while in hiding from Cassandra Nova during his servitude and had forgotten how in tune with his mind Eden and Bethany were, aware of even the thoughts he didn't frame for them.

Curious now, he explored his mind trying to find the space in which he had hidden from Cassandra Nova but was unable to find it. He did not have anything to hide from his siblings, but it was curious that it was there no longer. And without that indicator how could he find the hidden space within it that had puzzled him so much?

_Jasper?_ Bethany, laying with one arm across his chest, shook him a little to get his attention.

_I'm not really sure; _he answered in a rush, quickly picking up the string of the conversation he had been distracted from.

_I drew on powers I didn't know I possessed…_he paused for a moment then continued; _I was invincible. You must have felt it, felt the power in me. Cassandra Nova Xavier was powerless against my might! I was glorious!_

Eden and Bethany pulled away from their resting places against their brother and looked at him, querying this uncharacteristic behaviour. Jasper looked up at them, as confused as they were at his boastful words. But as the silence drew out Silver's gaze was drawn away from his sibling's faces to the sky that was slowly darkening behind their backs.

The sky turned black and stars appeared that shone abnormally bright behind the pitch-black of clouds that were moving across the sky, converging together. His brother and sister followed his gaze and turned to watch the changing sky above them.

_Are you doing that?_ Bethany asked.

It wasn't clear who she was talking to and both her brothers answered; _Not me. _

Never taking their eyes off the now sinister cloud formation, they stood up. Then clouds overhead were becoming more solid, becoming a colour darker than the nightscape behind. The clouds were condensing and taking a human shape, and more alarmingly were descending down upon them.

The three siblings drew closer together, not knowing what to make of this threatening occurrence in what they had assumed was their own minds. Growing closer and closer the cloud figure began to glow a dull grey, which then turned into a brighter shine and finally into a brilliant light, hurting their eyes when they tried to look directly at it.

The form set down a few paces away from them down the hillside and approached them with confident strides a tail trailing along behind it.

_It's you! _Bethany cried and grabbed onto Jasper's shoulder.

The form of light suddenly flickered out leaving a white doppelganger before them. Pointed ears, fangs, large three-fingered hands and tail, it was a mirror image of Silver though seemed to actually be made of silver and burned with white fire the same white flames Jasper displayed during the confrontation with Cassandra Nova.

_Who… who are you? _Jasper managed to ask in a stammer.

_Sister is correct. I am One, one who is You. You are another. And together we are both You. _

_One is Power. One is Glory. One is Brilliance. One is Phoenix! _

The declaration shocked and confused them. The being of light in front of them radiated an enormous sense of power. Even though it stood down the hill from them they felt as if they were looking up at a giant.

None of them spoke. All trying to make sense of what this brilliant image of power had revealed to them. Eden and Bethany were not sure if to be awed, angry or afraid.

It extended both hands in a gesture of appeal, _Brother. Sister. Do not fear Me. One would never allow harm to come to you. I have only a need of communication with Jasper. _

_Speak then._ said Jasper flatly, he feared that he was understanding far too much of this entity's meaning for him to remain comfortable.

_One must find an accord with One's Other. You. My release has ended our peaceful co-existence. One's refuge is gone, and your full potential granted, thus our time separate is inevitably to end. Conflict between us is unacceptable, joined, as One is, to One's family. _

_One appears now to offer for peace. One has grown in nesting within Jasper for One's span and wishes no harm. Does Jasper understand?_

_You! You are the impenetrable box within my refuge. You gave me the power to defeat Cassandra Nova. You saved us from her. _

_Have you been in my mind all of my life?_

_One has been part of you since birth, yes. A gift of One's Mother heritage. The Phoenix is Jasper and Jasper is Phoenix. One is the other. One did not give Jasper power, One, when free allowed Jasper his power. Together We defeated Cassandra Nova Xavier, if Jasper had not restrained One, truly would have Cassandra Nova Xavier been destroyed._

_One is bound to Jasper and Jasper is bound to Brother and Sister and thus any conflict would affect all, an unacceptable outcome._

_So what are we to do? When we cannot co-exist and cannot fight one another? What peace is there to be between us?_

_One's only acceptable option is to unite with Jasper to be whole. One would relinquish action, thought, emotion to Jasper. One would be only an observant facet of One Whole. _

_The emotion that devotes One to Sister and Brother allows for no other action._

There was a pregnant pause before Jasper responded_ What would become of me? What must I lose to keep them from harm?_

It was as these words fell from Jasper's mouth that he saw the truth of the dangers faced here dawn upon Bethany and Eden. Sister meant Bethany and Brother meant Eden. And something else was going to force their brother to sacrifice himself in exchange for their safety.

As one, they moved in front of Jasper, imposing their bodies between him and the shining interloper. Eden was scowling and Bethany had her wings raised and spread, instinctively trying to intimidate the Phoenix.

A small smile crept onto the Phoenix's face as he watched the siblings stand to oppose it. Phoenix again held out both hands in appeal.

_Brother, Sister. Opposing me is to oppose your brother. Phoenix is but Jasper as he could be. What One does, the Other will do, for you._

Bethany and Eden seemed to lose confidence when they heard this remark and faltered for a moment.

_I'm sorry… _Jasper whispered as he spread his arms wide. As he did this Eden glided across the ground to his right and Bethany his left leaving open space between Jasper and his double.

They struggled to get back to their brother, to protect him from making this sacrifice, but neither could move. From their immobile positions they watched as the moon-lit hills and star-strewn sky faded around them.

Everything was empty and black again. All there was to see was the four figures, forming a square in the centre of infinite darkness.

Jasper's head was hung, his silver locks obscuring his face from the view of his siblings and his Other.

The glowing Phoenix broke the silence after what had seemed and eternity; _One knows One's intentions. However One cannot predict the ultimate consequences. One has no wish to obscure Jasper. _

_But that may happen, might it not? I will be forced under your influence, be changed by you, to you. And what will be the results then? _He let this question hang in the air between them before he continued _But tell me, if I refuse, and we remain separate could we not stay as we are now, with no conflict between us? _Jasper all but pleaded, never lifting his head.

_One does try, but increasingly unsuccessfully to remain in control of One's impulse to hurl power towards you. To force you to wield your might. My might! To rise up and destroy those that would defy One! _The Phoenix paused and settled one hand over its chest before continuing. _One can harm you if necessary. And will if left unchecked. This outcome is unacceptable. Yet inevitable in this current state. To unite will gift You with power, Jasper's power. One entity, We, will be, One will try to submit under Jasper's control. This outcome is uncertain. _

_And uncertain is better than unacceptable. _Jasper stated as fact. _What must I do? _Jasper asked, finally looking up to meet the gaze of Phoenix, tracks left by shed tears marking his cheeks.

_Reach out. Touch my hand._

Jasper and the Phoenix each took one step forward, their right hands extended as if to shake in greeting. As their hands clasped one another the white fire spread from the Phoenix to flow over Jasper, engulfing his entire body.

As the fire spread his control was drawn away from holding his siblings in place, and as soon as they were released from his hold, they rushed towards the two flaming bodies only to stop short of touching the burning pair unsure of how to proceed.

They felt the conflict begin, the two opponents sizing each other up before they came together in battle, releasing an explosion of force and flame that flung Eden and Bethany away with its power. However they were unhurt and they regained their feet as fast as possible and looked back to see their brother transform into a being of light and fire like the Phoenix.

Each of the glowing bodies pulled at the other and merged together. At first their combined mass was nothing but a formless light levitating above the ground but it slowly transformed and took the form of a great fiery bird towering above their heads and rising higher away above them.

An internal clash of wills was taking place, both Bethany and Eden could feel the struggle clearly yet were unable to determine which of the entities was Jasper. When they tried to penetrate the mental barriers surrounding their brother's battle they were firmly excluded.

The bird of fire started to screech as if in pain, and dove towards the ground where Bethany and Eden stood in awe. It levelled out above their heads and took off behind them to climb and dive again. Over and over this went on in a seemingly erratic pattern, as within the two wills fought each other for dominance. Up, down and up again, the screech never ending.

The bird was working its way further away from where the two were standing and as the bird took another dive away from them they started to run across the black nothingness after it, afraid it would get too far away. As they gained on the burning apparition they saw it pause unnaturally mid-dive and felt one of the two clashing wills give way to the other.

_NO! _Bethany cried fearing that Jasper was the one failing, and with one swift movement wrapped an arm around Eden's waist, spread her massive wings wide and jumped into the air. She beat her wings rapidly to gain altitude and speed moving always towards the now stationary bird.

The faltering combatant became smaller and smaller as its opponent dominated it. It was desperately struggling to assert itself when Eden and Bethany barrelled full-speed into the flaming bird.

Eden and Bethany became a mess of arms, legs and wings as they fought to hold onto the hovering bird of fire. _Help… _whispered across their minds faintly, a message from Jasper confirming their fears.

They both felt as he failed to hold back the mental onslaught from the Phoenix.

_NO! Jasper! Stay! _Eden cried desperately and felt the struggle still.

All was silent as the two wills merged effortlessly into one and the bird transformed back into the tailed figure they loved so well.

Still hovering above the ground, aflame with white fire, with his brother and sister hanging off him, Silver looked at each of them in turn and said _Home?_

And all went black.

He opened his eyes to meet the astonished gaze of Professor Xavier. Before he could reassure him with a smile he was distracted by Bethany rolling off the bed in front of him and Eden reaching his hands up to press his brother's hand tighter against his fore head, not affected the white flames burning against his face.

"Is it you?" He asked, not even opening his eyes.

Silver bent over Eden's head and whispered "Of course! You saved me, brother." Clasping Eden's hands in his own he kissed his forehead in thanks.

There was a commotion in the lab and a waft of sulphur drifted over them as Nightcrawler teleported onto the bed behind Bethany and pulled her into a bear hug. Jean ran across the lab to throw herself across Eden who groaned in discomfort but smiled anyway.

"Well done young Jasper!" exclaimed the Professor, smiling widely at the comic antics of his brave X-Men.

Ororo, standing beside him, was similarly amused, "Do you know you are on fire?" she posed to Jasper with a raised eywbrow.

"Sorry!" he smiled back at her, too caught up in his family's emotions to say any more as the flames crawling over his body subsided.

Both Bethany and Eden were on their feet stretching their unused muscles. Mother and father hovering closely by just as they had done to him this morning. This morning? It seemed so much longer.

"How long was I with them?" he asked turning to the Professor.

"But a few minutes, perhaps 6 or 7." He answered

"It seemed longer, we slept and…"

He was cut off by a guttural moan from Eden. "Don't touch me!" he cried as he fell to his knees and clutched his head. Jasper watched this take place and the wave of pain washed over him before he could react. The pain pushed Bethany to her knees beside Eden and Jean visibly wavered and fell against the bed.

Jasper resolutely ignored the pain that had once been so crippling and jumped through the air, over one of the beds to land in front of his brother and placed both hands on his shoulders. White flames reappearing over his body.

"Fight it! Control it! I know that you can!" Jasper declared to his brother.

"There is too much! I feel too much! Too many people! I can't control it!"

Everyone in the room was starting to feel the mounting pain that Eden was unwittingly projecting. The only one unaffected was Ororo who was trying to help Professor Xavier.

Bethany crawled over to help Jasper hold Eden from falling face down on the floor.

_Silver take him to the woods! The proximity of our minds is hurting him. There are only trees out there!_ This came from the Professor, along with the approximate distance and direction.

_Go Jasper! Help him! _Jean added her encouragement to the Professor's suggestion.

Bethany grabbed onto Jasper's arm and without words pushed him to teleport the three of them away as they disappeared in a puff of swirling silver smoke.

They appeared near to a small lake, in a deserted clearing overlooking a steep hill descending down to the water's edge. They were surrounded newly planted trees in what seemed like a picnic area.

As soon as they were out of the mansion Eden's mind became more peaceful, but only marginally so. It seemed that the tranquil nature of the outdoors affected his powers less than a man made environment. Bethany drew Silver's mind to regard the frantic efforts of Eden's mind to record every single atom in their proximity, pushing itself further and further, the pain mounting as it did so.

Despite the pain mounting in their minds Jasper did not force his brother's mind to withdraw instead he formed a plan that would allow Eden to harness his minds capacity by himself. If he cannot focus on the problem to stop it, they should try to distract him from it, persuade him to send his powers in a positive direction.

Jasper teleported a short distance so that they were surrounding one of the young saplings and he mentally nudged Bethany to put her hands on the bendy trunk as he placed Eden's above hers then grasped it himself.

He entered deeply into the hive mind and withstood the expected wave of pain as he sheltered Bethany from it. It was important they bear up under this pain to give Eden the confidence that he too could bear it. Together he and Bethany focussed on the tree and drew Eden's attention away from the pain and towards the functions of the tree.

He knew what they wanted from him and they felt him struggle against his instinct to try and escape the pain and try to turn the pain to his advantage.

He vented the pain he felt all over his body into the tree's structure, where it dissipated. With Jasper and Bethany beside him he grew to know the tree.

The bark underneath his hands, the roots in the ground feeding the branches in the air, the branches sprouting new leaves, the leaves absorbing sunlight to make the roots grow deeper and hold the tree closer to the earth which fed it. One action led to another and then another, on and on until it came back to the first. The tree drew the trinity in and held effortlessly their combined consciousness. The pain he had felt throughout his body faded as it became inconsequential in comparison to the majesty of Tree.

The Trinity sat on the grass around the sapling tree with one hand in each sibling's grasp. Between them the tree solidified, sprouted, strengthened and _lived_ to tower above the trio, who sat in reverence of its peace.


End file.
